Pros

Cons

Lacks lyrics.
Doesn't offer much non-music programming.
No family plan.

Bottom Line

YouTube Music has a few interesting tricks up it its sleeve, but it doesn't do enough to topple the big dogs in the streaming music space.

19 Jun 2018

YouTube Music is fine—it's perfectly fine. Boasting a large mix of albums, playlists, remixes, videos, and live performances, the streaming music service combines official studio releases and community uploads. This mix isn't enough to make someone ditch Slacker Radio or Spotify, our Editors' Choices, for YouTube Music, but it's worth a listen if you're keen on its cool location-and-time-based playlists or already intend to sign up for YouTube Premium (the rebranded and expanded YouTube Red), of which this service is a part.

But First, Some Clarification

Google and its subsidiaries have a long, rich history of releasing new products that are similar to existing products (see Google Allo, Duo, Hangouts, and Messenger) and/or rebranding services to the point of confusion (see Google Apps for Your Domain, Google Apps for Works, G Suite, Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, and Google Drive). That approach is now being applied to the company's music arm.

YouTube Music, comprised of a web player, mobile apps, and millions of songs, doesn't represent the first time that YouTube has dabbled in the space (remember YouTube Music Key or the original YouTube Red?). Still, this latest attempt at a music service feels more focused and complete than previous efforts.

You can partake of YouTube Music in three ways. There's a free, ad-supported version for people who want to give the service a risk-free shot. There's also the $9.99-per-month YouTube Music Premium, which serves up an ad-free experience, as well as mobile app background listening and offline playback. In this regard, YouTube Music Premium is very much like Slacker Radio and Spotify. Note, however, that Slacker Radio offers a $3.99-per-month Plus plan that splits the difference between its Free and Premium options. A YouTube rep told me that a family plan is coming.

In addition, if you subscribe to YouTube Premium—the company's $11.99-per-month ad-free entertainment network—you also receive YouTube Music Premium as part of the package. Now you have something to do between Cobra Kai episodes.

YouTube Music vs. Google Play Music

You may be wondering what all this means for Google's other streaming music service, Google Play Music. According to the Official YouTube Blog, Google Play Music subscribers in the US, Australia, South Korea, New Zealand, and Mexico will continue paying $9.99 per month for their existing service. So, yes, the services will coexist for the time being. In fact, you can still sign up for a new Google Play Music subscription right now. That said, Google Play Music subscribers in all other nations will automatically gain access to YouTube Music Premium when it becomes available.

Google Play Music, like YouTube Music, has a focus on playlists and music recommendations, but differs in a few ways. For example, Google Play Music has a music locker to which you can upload your music files, and YouTube Music does not. Doing so lets you stream those tunes to any Google Play Music-compatible device. In addition, Google Play Music lets you buy tracks from the Google Play Store—YouTube Music lacks that functionality. Still, YouTube Music has its own cool features, as I'll explain.

Data-Driven Recommendations

The YouTube Music homepage has four main sections: Home, Hotlist, Library, and Search. Home is where you find recommended content—more on that later. Hotlist is where trending songs live. Library contains your liked songs, favorite albums, listening history, and created playlists (I was happy to see my holiday playlist created on regular old YouTube carried over here). The homepage is well designed, easy to navigate, and attractive, too.

YouTube Music leverages the mountains of data that Google has on its users to provide customized experiences—at least that's the goal. If you're in an airport, for example, YouTube Music should deliver relaxing tunes for the stressful flight experience. If you're at the gym, YouTube Music should feed you heart-pumping beats and riffs.

In my testing, YouTube Music detected the time of day and my location, and served me the appropriate playlists. For example, late at night it suggested listening to the mellow "Dream Pop Deep Sleep." At work, I got the zen-like "Deep Focus Instrumentals." Whenever I entered my home after work, YouTube Music recommended "Happy Hour." Weather even plays a role; YouTube Music Premium detected clear skies in New York City, which resulted in "Endless Summer."

If you're okay with exchanging your personal data for customized playlists, it's a really slick, if somewhat sobering, experience. It's definitely a more personalized experience than what other music services offer.

YouTube Music has another cool gimmick: lyrics-based searches. The service doesn't display lyrics as songs play, but you can type "took a test to become an MC and didn't fail" into the search box, hit the enter key, and see RUN-DMC's "Rock Box" accurately listed as a result. That said, that same search returned Olivia Newton-John's "Physical" for some inexplicable reason.

The Listening Experience

Of course, YouTube Music also recommends songs, albums, and playlists based on songs you've liked or listened to in the past. While researching The Offspring for my bi-weekly column, The Pop-Off, my YouTube Music feed was flooded with Korn, Limp Bizkit, and other suburban aggro-rock tracks. The algorithm works, regardless of taste.

Still, the tunes, in terms of audio quality, sound good. YouTube Music's streams carry a 128kbps bit rate on the web and mobile, with 256kbps coming down the pipe (Google Play Music streams at 320kbps). The average music listener with a decent pair of headphones will melt into a world of big beats, soft vibes, and hard rock. Audiophiles with more discerning ears may want to check Tidal's $19.99 per month HiFi plan if they want delicious, uncompressed 1411Kbps FLAC streams.

Unfortunately, YouTube Music doesn't do much more than music at the time of this writing, which makes it feel a bit of a bare-bones offering. Over the last few years, streaming music services have expanded to offer non-music content, such as news and weather updates (Slacker Radio), podcasts (Deezer), editorial (Tidal), or concert listings (iHeartRadio). However, I did find a few Chris Rock and Kathleen Madigan comedy tracks.

Video Music Box

Naturally, YouTube Music has lots of video. If you search for, say, The Dirtbombs, the results page will contain a dedicated video section where you can view official music videos, as well as content uploaded from the community. I like this wild mix of curated and non-curated content.

Most streaming music services only serve up official music videos, but YouTube Music gives you karaoke tracks, people performing covers in their bedrooms, and uploaded music from random users. If you like journeying down YouTube rabbit holes, you'll dig the lack of curation.

Still, I would completely understand if someone disliked this open door policy. If you just want to watch an official music video and not wade through the noise, check out Tidal, which has numerous videos in its curated library.

Mobile Apps

Besides the browser-based version, YouTube Music is also available on the Android and iOS platforms. I spent a good amount of time with the Android app, testing it on my Google Pixel XL smartphone.

The app is very much like the desktop version in that it has a simple, attractive, grid-based interface that places playlists front and center. You can download offline playlists and let YouTube Music play in the background as you toy with other apps. Oddly enough, there's no option to tweak the audio bit rate, which is unusual for music-based mobile apps. On the upside, the app performed well, not crashing or freezing during my many hours of testing.

A Solid Start

YouTube Music is off to a promising start. Google's latest music attempt may not have some of its competition's more endearing features, but its location- and time-based playlists, as well as the ability to search by lyrics, are fun additions. However, that may not be enough to lure you away from Slacker Radio or Spotify, PCMag's feature-packed Editors' Choices.

About the Author

For more than a decade, Jeffrey L. Wilson has penned gadget- and video game-related nerd-copy for a variety of publications, including 1UP, 2D-X, The Cask, Laptop, LifeStyler, Parenting, Sync, Wise Bread, and WWE. He now brings his knowledge and skillset to PCMag as Senior Analyst.

When he isn't staring at a monitor (or two) and churning out Web hosting, music, utilities, and video game copy, Jeffrey mentors, practices Jeet Kune Do, blogs, podcasts, and speaks at the occasional con. He also collects vinyl and greatly enjoys a craft brew.